Blackcurrant bush: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
How do you plant a blackcurrant bush?
Choose fertile, moist but well-drained soil, in sun or light partial shade, sheltered from cold winds. Preferably plant while dormant, from autumn to early spring, avoiding frozen or waterlogged ground. Allow about 1.50–1.80 m between bushes according to vigour.
Moisten the root ball or rehydrate bare roots. Dig a hole wide enough to spread the roots without damaging them. For a bush-grown blackcurrant on its own roots, plant about 5 cm deeper than before to encourage shoots from the base. For a standard-trained plant, retain the original depth and provide a stake. If the soil is poor, mix mature compost into the backfill. Firm gently and water.
For container growing, favour a compact variety and a pot at least 45 cm wide and deep, with drainage holes and a suitable shrub-growing medium. Monitor moisture more closely: container growing is more demanding in the long term. Mulch without covering the stems and adapt pruning to the bush's form.
How do you prune a blackcurrant bush?
Prune blackcurrants during winter dormancy, avoiding hard frost. On an established bush, remove dead or damaged wood, then cut some of the oldest, unproductive stems down to the base, up to about a third depending on the bush's condition.
Retain well-placed, vigorous young shoots: they provide replacements and future crops. Do not routinely shorten them to two or three buds. A short cut can be used after planting a young, own-root bush in winter to encourage shoots from the base; it is not the annual pruning method for an established bush.
In the first few years, prune lightly if growth is vigorous. Adapt pruning to the blackcurrant's age, vigour and form; a standard-trained plant needs its crown retained.
How to care for this plant
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Maintain the mulch
When spring returns, remove weeds around the plant and top up thinning mulch. Leave a clear gap against the stems and avoid digging near the shallow roots.
How do you harvest blackcurrants?
Harvest your blackcurrants when the berries are fully coloured, black and ripe, generally in summer depending on variety and climate. Do not rely on a fixed date in August. Look at several clusters and check ripeness before starting a large picking: varieties do not all ripen in the same way.
When the berries in a cluster are ripe together, gently pick or snip the whole cluster. If some remain less developed, pick ready berries individually and return later. Do not pull on branches or confuse picking with pruning the bush. Use shallow containers and avoid squeezing berries between your fingers or piling up a warm harvest.
Sort promptly to remove leaves, small debris and rotting fruit. Refrigerate sound berries and eat or process them without a long delay. Rinse at preparation time and remove small stalks. For freezing, rinse and dry the berries thoroughly, then spread them on a tray before transferring them to a closed, dated container. This avoids forming one solid block that is difficult to portion. Always check the berries’ condition before using them.
Blackcurrant bush
- Type : Fruit trees
- Botanical Family : Grossulariaceae
Characteristics
- Exposure : Partial Shade
- Frost Hardiness : Frost Resistant
- Cultivation Difficulty : Easy
- Mature height : 150 cm
Maintenance
- Maintenance : Moderate
- Water Requirements : Moderate
Other characteristics
- Soil Type : Humus-rich
- Soil pH Preference : Neutral
- Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
- Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
- Weed Sensitivity : Low
- Pollination : Insect-pollinated
- Propagation : Cutting